Dill Chicken Salad

Chicken salad doesn't have to be boring. This herb-packed chicken salad is made with fresh dill and pickled cornichons (gherkins) for a refreshing sandwich that'll get you out of any bland chicken recipe rut.

I love a good chicken salad sandwich. And I also love infusing fresh herbs into typically mayo-heavy recipes (like this herbed potato salad) to give them a boost of freshness.

Chicken salad with dill is something I've been making for many, many years now. I've done a bit of tweaking to the ingredients to make it even better, so I decided to give this whole post a refresh.

Read on to see what's changed, and how you can make it at home.

🧡 Why we love this recipe

• You can use all mayo or a combination of half mayo, half plain Greek yogurt to lighten things up a bit.
• Lots of fresh dill, cornichons, and 2 types of onions bring tons of flavor to the chicken salad mixture.
• It can be served on its own, stuffed into pita bread, on a sandwich roll, with crackers, or tucked into lettuce wraps.
• Piling some kettle cooked potato chips on top adds a really nice bit of salt and a crunchy texture to these chicken salad sandwiches.

📝 Ingredients

Here's everything you need to make dill chicken salad (see recipe card below for ingredient amounts and full directions):

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Dried bay leaf
• Grill seasoning (I'm partial to my homemade grill seasoning recipe but you could also use adobo seasoning, your favorite seasoned salt, or salt and pepper)
• Mayonnaise
• Plain Greek yogurt - I like doing a mix of half mayo, half Greek yogurt. You can omit the yogurt if you'd like and do the full amount of mayonnaise instead, which is how I made it for yeeeeears.
• Fresh dill
• Cornichons
• Red onion
• Green onions
• Serving Suggestions: sandwich rolls, pita bread, butter lettuce leaves, or crackers, and potato chips (especially kettle-style!)

✅ How to make this recipe

1. Place chicken in a saucepan and cover with water. Add bay leaf and grill seasoning and simmer until cooked (you're looking for 165°F with an instant-read thermometer).
2. Dice cooked chicken and add to a large bowl along with remaining ingredients.
3. Serve chicken salad on sandwich rolls, in pita bread, in lettuce wraps, or with crackers. We love this as sandwiches topped with a handful of kettle-style potato chips.

See recipe card below for full instructions.

🔁 Variations and substitutions

As mentioned above, this chicken salad is great with just mayo or with a mix of half mayo and half plain Greek yogurt. I've used nonfat Greek yogurt and it works beautifully. You could also use low-fat mayo or Miracle Whip if you prefer.

I like to dice the chicken for this dish, but shredded chicken would also work nicely. You could even buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store as a shortcut and use that instead of cooking your own chicken.

I've talked about how my family enjoys adding some crunch to these sandwiches with kettle-cooked potato chips. It really does add a wonderful texture and bit of saltiness to this dish.

I was teaching this recipe in a recent virtual cooking class and someone asked about using dill pickle flavored potato chips instead of fresh dill, and I think that'd be a great option.

Other types of herbs like cilantro were also brought up - I haven't experimented with that yet, but it could for sure be a fun option.

In a pinch, you could make this with freeze-dried herbs instead of fresh. I'd recommend starting with significantly less of those than the amount specified for fresh herbs. Taste the mixture and add more as needed.

If raw onions are a bit too strong for you, you can soak them in cold water for 10 minutes before adding them to the mixture. Drain off the water and proceed as instructed. Alternately, you could use shallots, which have a more mild onion flavor.

💡 What to serve with dill chicken salad

This chicken salad with dill is great as part of a Middle Eastern picnic spread. Here are some other favorite recipes that would go well with it:

🥡 Storage recommendations

This chicken salad holds up well for several days in the refrigerator in a sealed container. It tastes great as leftovers, making it a great make-ahead lunch option.

It's great stored on its own, or as part of a meal prep or snack box situation.

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📖 Recipe

Dill Chicken Salad

Chicken salad doesn't have to be boring. This herb-packed chicken salad is made with fresh dill and pickled cornichons (gherkins) for a refreshing sandwich that'll get you out of any bland chicken recipe rut.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Servings: 4 Sandwiches

Course: Salad, Sandwich

Calories: 413

Prep Time 7 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2-3 pieces)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon grill seasoning (or adobo seasoning or seasoned salt)
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ½ cup lightly packed chopped fresh dill
• ½ cup chopped cornichons
• ⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
• ¼ cup sliced green onion (about 2 large or 3 small)

Serving Suggestions:

• Sandwich rolls
• Pita bread
• Butter lettuce leaves
• Crackers
• Potato chips (especially kettle-style)

Method

 

1. Place chicken in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water by a few inches. Add bay leaf and grill seasoning (or adobo or seasoned salt). Bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chicken is fully cooked, about 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken (The temperature should read 165°F on an instant-read thermometer).
3. Drain chicken and cover with cold water to cool off. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, dice chicken into ½-inch pieces, trimming off any fat or gristle.
4. Add diced chicken to a large bowl along with mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, dill, cornichons, red onions, and green onions. Stir well to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Feel free to use all mayo or a mix of half mayo, half Greek yogurt.
5. Serve dill chicken salad on sandwich rolls, in pita bread, in lettuce wraps, or with crackers. The sandwiches are delicious topped with a handful of kettle-style potato chips.

Nutrition

Calories: 413kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 40gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 13gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 122mgSodium: 623mgPotassium: 758mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 638IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 1mg

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